By the meteorological calendar winter is already here

If you use the meteorological calendar winter started on 1 December and ends on the 28 February 2025. The astronomical calendar has the start of winter on 21 December, the winter solstice, and it ends on 20 March 2025. I like the idea that we can choose a different start and end date for a season depending on how you are feeling, what the weather is doing, something can just about to be starting or it can already be three weeks old. The solstice marks the suns minimum or maximum declination, where its apparent movement north or south stops before changing direction. The word comes from the Latin solstitium – to stand still, (sol – the sun and stit or stes – standing). I didn’t know that. All pictures were taken on 14 December unless stated otherwise.

In the Alpine Display House today

There is always something to see in the ADH at any time of the year and even in mid-December there are lots to look at and enjoy. There were also some wonderful scents as a bonus to the visual delights.

I have included some Petrocosmea in earlier diary entries. Petrocosmea cryptica ‘Whirlpool’ has tightly imbricate, tile like rosettes, it originated in China and was distributed by Chen Y, from Kaichen Nursery, around 1998. It has distinctive yellow veins on the foliage. The specific epithet was given as it was in cultivation for at least 10 years before it was recognized. From the Latin crypto – obscurely / hidden. Crypto currency is encrypted currency, encryption of the transactions from end to end being hidden, so I’ll think of Bitcoins to remember this plant name. Other digital currencies are available.

Dionysia ‘Ewesley Theta’ is a hybrid of D. afghanica x D. tapetodes. I thought it was named for a person, such as a character in Downton Abbey. It was raised by Eric Watson who lived at Ewesley near Morpeth. He raised many hybrids and named them after the Greek alphabet letters, I found more of his hybrids including Alpha, Gamma, Lambda and Sigma. Theta is the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet. It’s a much more sophisticated numbering system than simply naming it number eight. It is described as a plum, thrum type. There are a few more buds to open but in a couple of weeks’ time all the flowers might be over.

If it’s winter than we can have more snowdrops. Galanthus ‘Faringdon Double’ is the first double snowdrop to flower before Christmas. It was selected in 1988 by David and Ruby Baker, who lived in Faringdon, Oxfordshire. Genetic analysis has shown that all double snow drops have G. nivalis flore pleno in their parentage, this one is a G. elwessi x G.nivalis flore pleno.

Massonia echinata has sweetly scented flowers and is native to the Cape Provinces of SA, specifically around Oorlogskloof (Afrikaans for war-gorge) on the Bokkeveld Plateau (Afrikaans for Buck (antelope) shrubland). It grows in desert or dry shrubland which gives an indication of the type of growing conditions it needs. The Bokkeveld has the coldest temperatures in SA.

Narcissus papyraceus has strongly scented flowers and has been a popular indoor pot plant at Christmas. The specific epithet is from the Latin, meaning the texture of paper, hence its common name of the paperwhite daffodil. It is native to the western end of the Mediterranean basin, including Morrocco, Algeria, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Yugoslavia.

Narcissus bulbocodium subsp. praecox ‘Moulay Brahim’ is now considered a synonym of Narcissus albicans by Kew’s Plants of the World Online. Moulay Brahim is in Morocco, south of Marrakesh. The subspecies name is from the Latin for very early or earlier than most of its genus. The specific epithet for the PoTW name is from the Latin for whitish although this selection is clearly very yellow.

Some general views of the rock garden in the winter sun

The vast majority of deciduous plants in the rock garden have lost their leaves for the winter. The views around the rock garden may not be as colourful as they were in the spring and summer but they still offer memories of the past and promises of good things to come. In the last of the four pictures a fountain can just be seen, in the background, on the glasshouse lake. This is a temporary feature, part of the Wisley Glow event.

I might yet get to like the many small trees in the rock garden, but I do appreciate them

It’s not until winter that I notice the trees on the rock garden, but I would miss them in the spring and summer if they were not there. At this time of the year these little evergreens earn their keep for the whole year.

I think there is something special and striking about the cedar of Lebanon trees, which are far too big for a rock garden. There are several very large cedar trees at Wisley in different parts of the garden. This one is on a different scale. Cedrus libani ‘Blue Fountain’ is a superior deeper blue variant of ‘Glauca Pendula’. The specific epithet is from the Latin – from Lebanon / Lebanese, but is also found in southern Turkey.

If you were looking for a perfect shaped Christmas tree, Picea glauca var. albertiana would be a perfect choice. I’m not sure where you could hang the baubles though. This dwarf form was discovered in Alberta, Canada in 1904, hence its common name the dwarf Alberta spruce. The species grows in the northern boreal forests of Canada and the United States. It is also referred to as being a white spruce. This is derived from the white waxy layer on the foliage.

Pinus strobus ‘Secrest’ is a dwarf form of the eastern white pine which grows in the northeastern United States and Canada. In the UK the species is known as the Weymouth pine. Captain George Weymouth RN (c1570 – 1612) brought some seeds back to the UK from Maine. The specific epithet is from the Greek strobilos – pine cones and strobos – whirling around. The cultivar name is to honour Edmund Secrest (1882 – 1949) who established the Wooster Arboretum, a 75 acre site at Ohio Agricultural Experiment station. This was re-named in 1950 the Secrest Arboretum.

I know that variegated foliage can generate mixed opinions on whether it’s an improvement or an aberration. Juniperus chinensis variegated ‘Kaizuka’  was introduced to the US from Japan in 1920. The species in the wild can be found in a number of countries including China, Mongolia, Japan, Korea, Myanmar and Taiwan. Its cultivar name is from the Japanese kaizu, meaning unexpected or accidentally.

A few more of the bonsai trees kindly loaned by Heron Nurseries

Pinus thunbergii is named in honour of Carl Peter Thunberg (1743 – 1828), Swedish naturalist and physician, who is considered to be the father of South African botany as well as the Japanese Linnaeus. This species can be found in Korea as well as Central and Southern Japan.

The cultivar name of Juniperus chinensis ‘Tohoku’ is from the Japanese to meaning east and hoku meaning north. This comes from the Ou mountain range on Honshu in the north east of the island, a mountain range that stretches for 500km. The second pictures shows some juniper berries. For anyone having a gin and tonic at Christmas (and why not), the juniper berries used to flavour gin is from Juniperus communis, the common juniper.

Juniperus chinensis ‘Blaauw’ I thought had interesting bark until I realised it was part of the support arrangements for the tree. The specific epithet is named for the firm of J.Blaauw and Co of Holland around 1924. The original material had been imported from Japan. Blaauw the Dutch surname means blue, which you might have deduced.

Cryptomeria japonica is known as the Japanese cedar or Japanese redwood and it’s native to central and southern Japan. The species was chosen as national tree being the largest and oldest living trees in Japan. In Japan it is called Sugi which means straight trunk. It is evergreen but in the winter the foliage turns a coppery, bronzy colouring. Introduced from Japan in 1854 it is a monotypic genus (only one species). The genus name is from the Greek krypto – to hide and meris – a part, with reference to the concealed position of the reproductive organs.

Projects past and yet to come

For the last few weeks many man-days have been spent clearing leaves in the fern glade. This allows the many acorns to be cleared before they germinate, otherwise they are more difficult to remove, the tap roots developing very quickly. We like oak trees, just not everywhere. The paths that were completely clear of leaves just a few days before have gained a light covering. The whole of the fern glade area will be mulched in early 2025. Visitors often comment on the good condition of the soil. It reflects the 110 year history of this part of the garden and its continuous management.

The next four pictures were taken between 3 October and 12 November and show the sand plunges being built under the new shade house. This will provide a new home for plants that are in the collections such as hepaticas and saxifrages, which were starting to struggle in the glass houses or poly tunnels where they were kept, with the warmer summers in recent years. It was felt they were being slowly cooked. This open-sided shade house will be cooler. There are horizontal blinds below the roof that will provide the shading.

The first picture shows the site being cleared and the second one shows the construction of the benches.

The two pictures below show the benches complete and then filled with the plunge sand. Just the small matter of filling them all up with plants.

It’s 18 months since the cushion house was opened

I haven’t showed any general pictures of the cushion house for a while, so I’ve included a couple for reference. Time flies and it’s already been 18 months since the refurbishment was completed. Some of the newly introduced cushions have already increased in size.

On this day in history, 14 December

I had slightly misjudged the temperature when walking around the garden today and would have enjoyed it more if I’d been wearing some warmer clothing. On this day in 1911, Norwegian Roald Amundsen’s Antarctic expedition successfully reached the South Pole, beating the British Team of Robert Falcon Scott, Edward Wilson, Edgar Evans and Henry Bowers to the prize. The British team reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912 and the rest is history, as they say. Fortunately I don’t know what real cold means.